Constant Scooting- Vet and I are stumped

[jaxthecat]

I adopted my cat from the shelter about 7 months ago. The past three months he's been to the vet about 4 times for his 'constant scooting' across my freshly washed comforter. He's been checked for worms, given a de-wormer as a preventative and is on revolution for maintenance. He's had his anal glands checked and expressed and is all good there. He's been put on prescription food for irritable bowel (has occasional diarrhea) and I've been checking to make sure theres no feces stuck to him, even wiping his butt every so often as a preventative. Vet has checked his butt and he doesn't appear to be inflamed but yet he still scoots- almost daily. I'm at my wits end with him and the vet is stumped. Anyone have any ideas of how to solve this?

 

[stephanietx]

I had a kitty do this.  She had very hard stools because she was feed all dry at the time.  My only human explanation for it was that it hurt some when she pooped, so to 'scratch' it, she scooted.  I switched her to mostly canned and added plain pumpkin to her food and the scooting stopped.
 

 

[jaxthecat]

I forgot to add that he was also given an antibiotic injection to rule out infection. I tried pumpkin but he won't eat it.  He also will do it even if he hasn't just recently gone to the bathroom.

 

[goholistic]

One of my cats scoots, but it's because of constipation. For either constipation or diarrhea, the anus can get very sore. When Boo was very sore and couldn't relax, I washed my hands thoroughly and put a very small amount of Vaseline on his anus for the irritation. I washed my hands again with an antibacterial soap and then gave him some Bach's Rescue Remedy for Pets to help him relax. Of course, this doesn't solve the issue.

Is it possible that maybe he is itchy? Or perhaps now he is constipated? How are his stools?

If you're wiping his butt, only use a soft tissue or paper towel dampened with warm water. Don't rub hard.

 

[jaxthecat]

Thank you both for the replies. I'm using cat wipes to wipe his coolie and am just blotting. His stool is soft for the most part. Many times it is "unformed" so to speak which is why we've started him on prescription food. I guess his butt could be irritated but just seems strange that he will do it even if he didn't just poop. Is their ointment for this? I'm afraid to try the Vaseline and get it all over my bed. Anyone else experience this chronically?

 

[vball91]

The unformed stool and occasional diarrhea could definitely be IBD. Also possibly food allergies. I would really look at diet. What is the Rx food? Is it dry or wet or both?

 

[jaxthecat]

IBD is what the vet suspected but she wasn't sure that was really related to the scooting? He is on Royal Canin Select Protein rabbit and pea. He's been on it for two weeks but no decrease in scooting.

 

[jaxthecat]

Sorry I realized I didn't fully answer your questions. He is primarily on dry but I also have some wet I give him every few days. (He seems to prefer the dry for this brand, oddly enough.)

 

[vball91]

I would venture a guess that the scooting is from discomfort, both from diarrhea and the unformed stools not expressingly the anal glands regularly.

Since the Rx food does not appear to be helping, I would try to put him on a cooked chicken diet for a few days to see if it helps. It basically eliminates everything except chicken. Unless his problem is chicken of course... You could try cooked lamb or some other meat he hasn't had before, maybe turkey?

 

[jaxthecat]

Just an update. The scooting has stopped! He's on an Rx diet of Rabbit and Pea and after about a month and half he has stopped scooting. Thanks all for the help!

 

[goholistic]

Great news!